


Shattered Romances And Broken Remains

by gh0st1nn1t



Series: Fixing What Is Broken [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves Friendship, Ben is alive, Broken Posessions, Dave Katz Is Dead, Dave appears as a ghost, Except Luther, Grieving, He Still Sucks, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, Luther Hargreeves Being an Asshole, Luther SUCKS im sorry, Luther Tries To Get Pity, Luther X Allison Doesnt Exist In This Whoops, M/M, No Incest, No One Knows That Klaus Fought In Vietnam, Not Beta Read, Protective Ben Hargreeves, SEASON 2 SPOILERS!!!!!, Sibling Bonding, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, Sort of spoilers whoops, We Die Like Ben, What do you mean ben died fuck you he lives, [Not Really], badass klaus hargreeves, fuck luther
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25657135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gh0st1nn1t/pseuds/gh0st1nn1t
Summary: After being thrown back into the 2019 apocalypse, Klaus held onto the dog tags, being the only reminder left of the man he loved. Even during the fight in the theatre and the time travelling, he clung onto them. They provided comfort, as stupid as it sounded.Of course, with his Hargreeves luck, he was thrown right into another apocalypse, so he never had time for the grieving process, goiong straight to drugs, cults and alcohol. Then they fought their way out, they were okay, and Klaus finally allowed himself to...to feel.Then Luther came into the mix and turned it into a shit show.
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus - Relationship
Series: Fixing What Is Broken [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1882756
Comments: 18
Kudos: 551





	Shattered Romances And Broken Remains

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, basically, in this, after returning to the proper year, there was no 'Sparrow Academy', they just went back to normal. I cant be assed to try and figure that all out, so pretend it was all resolved. Cool? Cool.
> 
> All content warnings will be listed here :  
> [if i miss any, PLEASE let me know]  
> -Forcibly Broken Comfort Item  
> -Mockery Of Trauma (unknowingly)  
> -Mentions Of Wars  
> -Mockery Of Stealing To Survive  
> -Slight Violence??? (like,,,one kick and a push)  
> -Dead Loved One (Dave Katz)  
> -Grieving  
> -MENTIONS Of Drugs (no specifics, just the word as a whole)  
> -Mockery Of Addictions (briefly)

Klaus didn't even know how it had happened. To be fair, he had blocked most of it out, curled into the corner of the sofa and focusing blankly on a stray pen discarded on the carpet. Luther had been casually mocking him since they got back. He couldn't give less of a shit, though, Luther was dramatic about everything. He _still_ wouldn't shut up about the moon. Lila owned a house a few streets away. She visited a lot, but Luther pissed her off, so she avoided him at all costs. Vanya was on the receiving end of quite a few ' _Luther Glares_ ', and a _lot_ of nasty jokes about her being dangerous. Usually, one of the Hargreeves siblings got him to shut up, or Luther closed his mouth. 

It hadn't happened this time around though.

He really, _really_ , wished it had.

Luther had been jumping onto Klaus about 'disrespecting real veterans' by wearing the dog tags and an army jacket. Klaus didn't think the gorilla man deserved an explanation, so he stayed quiet, pretending not to notice. It had been going on for a while. Luther had been pissy since they stopped the apocalypse _again_. 

"-I mean, you've never fought in any wars, and wearing actual veteran dog tags is disrespectful. The army jacket looks bad anyway, looks like something you stash your drugs in," Luther snapped, finally gaining Klaus' attention. Luther had flat out _refused_ to believe Klaus was sober, reducing him back to an alcoholic junkie who stole food to survive. He even dared to say that the therapy sessions Klaus briefly tried out were actually meetings with a drug dealer.

"I've been sober since we got back, you know this," Klaus had barely restrained leaping over and pummeling his face in. He took a deep breath, holding the dog tags in a fist, the cold metal comforting him. Dave was strictly against violence that was unnecessary. They may have fought in the war together, but Dave classed that as necessary, drop kicking his brother for negative comments was...just a little below the bar of 'Literal Warzone'.

Klaus knew Dave would be disappointed in him if he just decked Luther in the middle of the living room, and it was Dave's dog tag against his hand that kept him grounded. It was all he had left of the man he had fallen in love with. And then he had been torn away by Klaus not being able to get a medic quick enough. And Klaus would be damned if he let Dave down again.

"Do I, though? How do we know you aren't lying to us? I mean, a thief would have to be _pretty convincing_ ," Luther spat. Klaus was silently cursing the others for all being out during the argument. Diego and Five were walking across the street to the shops, Allison and Vanya were upstairs hanging out and Ben? Ben was sat on the arm of the couch, watching it unfold. He was right beside Klaus, making sure he didn't jump over and attack Luther. To be fair, if Klaus didn't, and Luther continued, Ben probably would.

"What exactly is he accusing you of?" Ben raised an eyebrow, the smirk on his face terrifying even Klaus. When he got angry, he didn't yell, he just...smiled, and it was _horrifying_. Ben was rarely scary, unless he was in murderous-octopus mode. 

"Yeah, I'm with Ben, what am I being accused of?" 

Klaus knew Luther couldn't see Ben. He knew it was a low blow but he deserved it.

"Klaus, stop playing dumb!" Luther's voice dramatically increased in volume, and Klaus had flinched. Being in a warzone for ten months, you began to be wary of sudden loud noises. Bens expression fell sad as he caught Klaus shifting away from Luther.

"I'm not!" Klaus practically sprung up, "I'm being accused of something, and I still don't know what it is!" He knew exactly what it was. He wanted to cling onto the denial for as long as possible. If he could believe his brother had faith in his recovery for a few more moments, he would be okay. If he could believe his brother wasn't mocking the ten traumatic months he spent in a warzone, he hoped he would be okay.

"You're a disrespectful little junkie who's lying about being sober and stealing shit from Dad's office to fuel his drug addictions and dressing like a veteran to disrespect real veterans!" Luther was getting right in his face, which was fairly difficult due to the height difference. 

"I earned these!" Klaus gestured furiously towards the dog tags. He would rather die than relive the ten months in Vietnam. He could relive the bits with Dave, and that would be all that he could bare to go through again, excluding the whole death. He could restrain himself while Luther mocked him, but if he DARED to say having his lover die in his arms, being in a warzone for ten months and fighting completely untrained, was 'not earning his dog tag'... Well, Klaus was not a murderer, but murdering Luther sounded amazing right now.

Ben leaned forwards slightly, " _Klaus_..." he warned. Two pairs of footsteps began descending the stairs, and Allison and Vanya stood at the bottom, watching the argument unfold with concerned faces. The handle on the front door twisted, Diego stepping in. His eyes fell onto the pair arguing, and he stepped back, allowing Five to enter and see it too, dropping the shopping bag back onto the floor.

"You didn't earn shit!" Luther reached out, and grabbed the dog tags tightly, yanking them off of Klaus' neck and crushing them in his hand, before tearing them in half and then in half again.

_Crushing it._

_Tearing it in half._

_And again._

_Daves dog tag._

_DAVES dog tag._

_DAVES DOG TAG._

_DAVE._

_DAVE._

_DAVE._

_DAVE._

_D-_

Klaus froze up.

His blood ran cold, but boiling hot at the same time. His throat seemed to close up, squeezing any breath out along with the shocked stuttered mumbles that fell from his mouth. Hands balled into fists, chewed fingernails digging straight into his skin. A burning sensation filled his head, pounding against his flesh, begging to get out. Goosebumps ran along his arms, covering the back of his neck. His stomach twisted into knots painfully as he watched his only reminder of his dead boyfriend get crumbled into pieces.

Klaus was glad he had no sharp things around, otherwise Luther would have been dead on the floor in moments. The pieces were too small to fix, the chain had been torn apart into tiny bits. He knew he was about to loose it when he lost control of his powers, and the ghosts he had begun to block out reappeared around him, their horrifying forms not helping his panicked state. Breathing had become an issue, the process feeling impossible.

A sickening feeling ran over his body. The ache in his chest made him wonder if that was what Dave felt in his last moments, with the bullet in his heart. Klaus assumed the two experiences had similar pain levels. The pain had spread through his whole body, turning him red-hot but freezing cold at the same time. Tears burned his eyes as flashbacks ran through his mind, staring down at the shatters of their dog tags.

_The soft drunk kiss shared in the bar during their break._

_Klaus tackling Dave down to avoid getting shot in the face._

_Dave sitting by his side after Klaus got minorly injured._

_The two sneaking out to sit below the stars after all the others were asleep._

_The bullet tearing through the air._

_Klaus being too slow._

_Dave dying._

_Klaus pleading._

_Klaus screaming_

_and screaming_

_and screaming_

_and screaming_

_and screaming_

_and scre-_

Klaus lost control.

He met Luther's eyes as furious tears ran down his cheeks. "WHAT THE _FUCK_ IS _WRONG WITH YOU_ , YOU _DICK_!" He screamed, his voice cracking and words getting smeared by his tears. The anger took over his body, and he shoved Luther with all his might, sending him toppling to the floor. 

Loud stomping echoed through the room as Klaus fled, furiously scrubbing at his eyes. Shocked looks covered both Diegos and Fives' faces as he shoved past them, practically flying down the streets.

Ben had finally broken out of his trance, and the rage that filled him was enough to make him corporate. All of the siblings stared at Ben as he slowly stood up from the sofa, walking towards Luther, flickering out of vision every few moments.

"He earned those. _You oversized bratty fucking bitch!_ " Ben roared. He knew it must have been terrifying, but he didn’t care. Seeing your long-dead sibling materialize out of thin air simply to yell at you was not a normal thing you could brush off. 

He may have not been in Vietnam with Klaus, but he had seen Klaus write those letters to Dave, he had seen the shaky drawings hidden in Klaus' desk. They had no pictures, so Klaus had attempted to draw one mid-panic attack, which turned out just as well as you'd expect. He had sat with Klaus as he struggled to stay sober, and he had reminded him that Dave wanted him to be sober. He had sat with him during thunder and fireworks and lightning, attempting to comfort him from the sudden, loud noises. He had seen Klaus breaking down in the middle of the night, after another failed attempt to summon Dave. He had been the one who sat with Klaus during his panic attacks, helping any way he could. 

He had seen Klaus’ experiences.

And those were goddamn deserving of a fucking _dog tag_ from his long-dead boyfriend.

He purposely sent a violent kick into Luther's leg as he ran out, chasing Klaus down the street.

“Klaus!” Ben called, his feet pounding against the pavement. It had only taken seconds for Diego, Allison and Vanya to join him in the chase after Klaus. The women weren’t even wearing shoes, since all they had been doing was hanging out upstairs, but they still kept up with the others, even if rocks occasionally dug into their socks.

“Klaus! Come on, man!” Diego yelled, running ahead of the others. He had no clue what was happening. All he had seen was Luther getting in Klaus’ face and destroying the one thing he had never seen Klaus without since he first got it. Then Klaus had bolted. He knew Luther was a dick, he heard the snide comments about his recovery, he heard the ‘ _jokes_ ’ about the painkillers Klaus took strictly when his headaches were _unbearable_ , he had heard it all. He wouldn't be surprised if Luther had initiated the argument. In fact, _he expected it._

“Klaus!” Vanya had joined in, narrowly keeping up with Ben and Allison. Diego had run ahead, unsurprisingly. They weren’t a tight-knit family by any means, but if one of them went sobbing and running away, they were bound to try and help. Vanya understood what it was like to have Luther make comments he said were ‘just jokes’. She could hear the yelling when she and Allison were sat upstairs, so she knew what had happened. She also knew Klaus relied on those tags a _lot_. She remembered him grasping them during the end of both apocalypses, she knew he held them if he got stressed.

She knew Luther knew it too. She knew Luther knew Klaus had relied on those metal tags. 

Allison rarely felt as worried as she did in that moment. She knew those tags were special to him. She had seen the name ‘Dave’ engraved onto them, and she didn’t know who he was, but she knew he was damn special to Klaus. Once, she had been walking past Klaus’ room to get a drink, and she had seen him sleeping on the floor, begging for someone named ‘Dave’ to forgive him. After Klaus had shown up wearing them, she had never seen him take them off.

She knew Luther was a prick, but she didn’t think he would destroy what they _all knew_ Klaus treasured. 

Klaus could hear them, and he didn’t even know where he was going, until he saw the veterans bar again. The one he had broken down in and then caused a fight. He had nothing else left of Dave. No pictures, no belongings, nothing. Daves body had been sent to his family, along with everything he owned. All Klaus had was the tags, and they had been torn apart. 

His lungs burned and screamed in pain as he pushed his limits. To be fair, he was not used to running, especially not mid-panic attack after seeing his most treasured item torn to shreds. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he splayed one hand out in front of him, slamming the door open.

A few older gentlemen in the corner looked over before returning to their poker game, backs turned to Klaus. The bar was mostly empty, aside from them. Klaus made his way over to the pictures strung up, and caught sight of the image of the Vietnam veterans, identifying him and Dave in an instant. The image of the blond had soothed his raging heart rate easily. 

He heaved, regaining his breath as he frantically swiped his tears away. He’d had panic attacks related to Dave before, during the infirmary when Dave's leg had been grazed with a bullet, when Dave died, on the bus going home, in his room many _many_ times. But the only witness to those was him and, occasionally, Ben. This time, it had been in front of the entire family, and it had been _because_ of one of his family.

Klaus gently grazed his index finger over Dave’s image, narrowly avoiding apologising to the image. 

Almost immediately after, the door swung open, revealing four of his siblings, who rushed over to him, trying to check over him. He swatted their hands away, reaching up to grasp the dog tags before remembering.

A flash of blue light appeared behind him, and Five stepped towards him.

“Dude! What the hell happened?” Diego asked, trying to get Klaus to look at him. “Why are we back here? You okay?” 

Allison slapped his arm, mouthing ‘Stupid question, Diego’, before placing a hand on Klaus’ shoulder supportingly. “What happened, Klaus?” 

Ben was still half-visible, flickering between being invisible and fully corporal. “You want me to explain?” He asked, finally getting Klaus to look away from the image of him and Ben.

Klaus shook his head, simply pointing towards the image, or, more specifically, the grinning faces of him and Dave. Their hands were inches away. Klaus remembered that day vividly. He had asked Dave if he wanted to secretly hold hands in the photo, and Dave laughed and grinned and promised they could hold hands later, when it wouldn’t endanger them. 

Vanya checked the dates on the bottom of the image. “What were you doing in Vietnam in the _1960’s_?”

“Got stuck. Stole a briefcase, stayed for ten months, came home,” Klaus spoke simply, voice trembling and words getting jumbled. He couldn’t stand getting into more detail, otherwise the body of Dave began appearing behind his eyelids and refused to go away.

“ _What the hell_ -” Allison began speaking, before receiving a glare from Ben. “ _What_? I didn’t know our brother fought in a war before he was even born!” She explained. 

“You want me to tell them about Dave?” Ben offered, as he knew the full story.

Klaus nodded.

“Klaus fell in the middle of this army camp, and Dave introduced himself because he was the only one awake. They fought together in Vietnam for almost ten months, Dave was his boyfriend after a few weeks and then-”

“Then he got killed,” Klaus spoke, voice quiet and tone surprisingly still. “Shot straight to the chest. I thought it was someone else's gun. Didn’t notice. I got a medic too late. He bled out,” Klaus pointed towards the picture, towards the dog tag hanging from Daves’ neck. “Gave me that as he was dying. There was- there was _so much blood_ -”

Diego's face dropped. “He was the person you told me about. The one you lost,” he received a confirming nod from Klaus. “God, man,” he breathed out, unsure of what to do.

“That’s why you destroyed the briefcase. You didn’t want to go back,” Five said knowingly, getting a sniffle and a nod in return.

“I only stayed for Dave. ‘Was gonna go home straight away, but he thought I was a new recruit who got lost, so I stayed. And- And once he got shot, I grabbed it and went back.”

“That’s rough,” Vanya spoke softly. “I’m sorry, Klaus.”

Allison nodded, “Me too. None of us knew. We’re all sorry we didn’t take you seriously.”

Klaus simply hummed in acknowledgement. Everyone was sorry. That was all that they said. ‘Sorry for your loss’. Like a crowd of robots. He hated it. What were they sorry for? They didn’t stick that bullet in his boyfriends chest. 

“Seriously, man, we shouldn’t have done that. And…” Diego took a deep breath. He was horrible with emotions. “And I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to talk about him properly before.”

“None of you even knew I was in Vietnam _ever_. Its not your fault.”

”You told me though. You said you wanted to sober up to see him, told me you went to the _A Shau Valley._ I shoulda listened,” Diego muttered.

Klaus sent him a look. “I was high out of my mind, its not your fault you didn’t believe me.”

“Yeah, but still…” Ben began.

Klaus shook his head. “I just wanna sleep,” he mumbled

\- - - - - -

When Klaus awoke, it was to an angry poking on his shoulder. “‘M fuck off,” he mumbled, pulling the covers over him tighter. He was not in the mood for anything but hiding from the world for as long as he could. The others had helped him stumble back, and they had sent Luther to go out for the day, to cool off. But Klaus didn’t want to talk, just sleep.

“No, asshole, look!” Ben spoke, making Klaus finally turn to where Ben was. He knew better than to wake Klaus for no reason, so he knew it would be important.

And it was.

A blond man was stumbling around, an army green jacket covering his chest, and a soldiers hat covering his head. A tattoo covered his upper arm, matching Klaus’ exactly. He had his back to Klaus, and was just outside of his room. He looked to be corporal, instead of the usual half-visible ghosts.

“Dave,” he breathed out, practically springing from his bed. His voice had made Dave spin around, just in time to be tackled into a tight hug.

“Klaus? Where am I?” Dave hugged back, arms wrapped tightly around the back of Klaus’ neck. He pressed his face into the top of his hair, one hand running through the dark brown strands. “When did you get long hair, baby?” He asked, tears welling in his eyes as he smiled down at Klaus. It was no surprise that Dave wasn’t freaked. Klaus had admitted tearfully one night below the stars that he saw ghosts and Dave had believed him.

“You’re at my house, Dave. And I grew out the hair. You like?”

Dave chuckled, “Yeah, Klaus, It weirdly suits you. How’d I get here though?”

“You died, Dave, baby, you got shot-”

“-In the chest, I know,” Dave smiled sadly again. The last thing he remembered was Klaus cupping his head and screaming for help. Then he got trapped wandering around some blank white area with too-bright lights, then, beginning in 2018, he got stuck on earth eventually finding Klaus and watching as Klaus tried and tried and tried to summon him. “I remember.” He took the hint that Klaus was as clueless as he was. “How long has it been?”

“Well, it’s 2020 now,” Klaus responded, not wanting to let go of Dave. His arms were still linked behind Dave’s back, head pressed onto his chest. He had spent so long trying to conjure up Dave, while sober, while high, while drunk. He’d tried everything and it hadn’t worked. “And it was ‘68 when you died, so 52 years.”

“Is it any better now?” 

Klaus chuckled tearfully. “A bit. We could get married now. It’s legal! And homophobic hate crimes are illegal too. We’d be safe here. Although I don't think Ghost/Human marriage is very widely accepted… Or legal. Literally anywhere. God, I wish you were alive,” he hugged Dave close again, placing his head just below his chin. 

“I know, Klaus, I know. I missed you,” He couldn’t help but let a tear fall down his cheek, soaking into Klaus’ long hair. 

“‘Missed you too,” he admitted. Then a realisation hit him, and he met Dave’s eyes, a hand placed gently on his cheek. “How did you get here? Have you been stuck this whole time?” 

Dave shook his head. “It was just blank for years, then I got on Earth a few years ago, but that was it.” He placed a hand over Klaus’, tilting his head to kiss his palm.

“Didn’t think you were here,” Klaus mumbled, “Kept trying to summon you.”

“I know, baby, I know, I saw. I don’t know why it wouldn’t work. I couldn’t do any of that ghost stuff you told me about, I tried. But hey,” He beamed, “I’m here now. I can do the whole corporeal thing for _hours_. I’ve been practicing.”

“I feel like I’m invading here,” Ben cut in, raising a hand as he still sat on the edge of Klaus’ bed. He had tried to not invade, but he couldn’t go anywhere because they were blocking the door and neither of them were very quiet people so he couldn’t block it out anyway.

Klaus let out a laugh, pulling away from Dave to gesture towards Ben. “Ben, meet Dave. Dave, meet Ben. My asshole ghost brother,” He grinned as Ben did a little wave.

“Good to meet you, Ben,” Dave grinned. He had been practicing making himself corporeal for years, and it had finally worked, and he couldn’t stop smiling. 

“Oh my god, the others! They’ll want to meet you!” Klaus exclaimed, practically jumping up and down. They had asked Klaus if he could tell them about him, if Klaus wanted to, of course. They had been making an effort into taking him seriously for once. They would be thrilled to know they could actually meet him. Ghost or not.

Dave chuckled.

“Klaus, look at the time,” he nodded towards the clock, showing ‘08:46’, “You can introduce me once they’re awake. I’ll wait by you. I’ve practiced, I can hold the corporeal form for hours.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”


End file.
